Cable positioning mechanism



April 14, 1953 L. ENZINGER ET AL CABLE POSITIONING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 3, 1950 INVENTORS L.NZ/NGER H./V.PADOW/CZ A By we)? I ATTORNEY April 14, 1953 ENZINGER-EI'AL CABLE POSITIONING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 3. 1950 FIG? 22 INVENTORS L E NZ/NGE R H. N. PA DOW/CZ A 7'7'ORNEV April 14, 1953 ENZINGER ETAL CABLE POSITIONING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 3, 1950 uvvnvrons L E NZ/NGE R H. N. PADOW/CZ A TTORNEY April 14, 1953 L. ENZINGER ETAL CABLE POSITIONING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 3, 1950 mm mm vm N GP L E NZ N65 1? H. N. PADOW/CZ A TTOIQNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1953 U I ED BA ENT Q-F 2,634,921 CABLE BQSIT H N SM Le hard Enzin er Brooklyn, N- Y a d Henry N. Padowic'mfLiyingston, N. J assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New

Yoifk, Y., corporation of New York 1 This invention relatesfto positioning mech anisms and more particfularlv to a' 'r'nejchan i 'sm of hisjtype ed si on a bl under o manufacture! a .p a s a e ducti o elwt q'a ta le s:

q ires that the e u m nt r man a mg the a e l lac d in tan e ?3n mn hi straight line set up necessitatesmaintaining the c b e on a r r l edv aim l e a it fi fi fis through the" manufacturing apparatus; and where misalignment is net acfcomplishedby the. apparatus itself, special positioning'means mu e. prov ed When. the cable as a o -1 ru'gated metallic sheathing, whOS edges are to be'spldered or similarly joined together, align ment where the cable passes through. t e, joining equipment is especially important if p1; er'regis tration of the. sheathing corrugations and the most efiicient heat transfer is to be obtained. In addition, any positioningfimechan' in used should be designed to "accommodateva ious iiial iiltefs of cable.

Itv is therefore, an object oi this. invention to provide means "for p opiefly positioning various sizes of cable along a prescribed axial line during the course. of their manufacture.

'In' the, preferred embodiment of the invention, applicant accomplishes his objeQt by manning a cable to be manufactured onthe edges of two plates which are raised or; lowered simu tanqusiy, bya parallelogram mounting structure actuated by a single knob. 'The two supporting'plates are inclined toward each other at equal angles such that their central planes i -ntersect along. the desired axial center line of the cable. 'Each plate moves in its own inclined plane so that by propd me of he. kn ca les at v 1 fie e -1 ize m b s pp ed w th th t was a he ame ve Ot e o e s an ad anta es. will e app rent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

1 is a front elevational view of the entire pQsi i n n mech sm;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the actuating means for the mechanism, taken along the line; 2,--Z of Fi 1;

Fig. 3 is a-sectional views of the positioning elements, taken along the line 3- 3 of Fig.- 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the linkage for the positioning plates, taken along the'line 4'-"-4 of Fi .1.;

Rig. 5. is another sectional view of the position-- ing el ments, taken along'the line 5*5 1 Fig.1;

. plates through suitable bolting and a e a erally to'the links l5. The other ends of the. lmks F 6 is a v ew h tam de se t k. final positional changes inthe suppprti'ngh t ke n the n 6+6 O a- Figis a t r. iew oi thejact a h m s for the positioning plates;'taken along the 1- 1 ofFig.'2. U

With reference to thedrawings, a cable I'l un dergoing manufacture is required to central axis maintained on theaxi'al lin The actual positioning of. means. is done by strips l2, which s rv asex llsiqn j 9f 16 spondin 'positio'ning plates [3, with thefca e resting on the up'peit edges olffithese stzgipsl f'The plates, is we held against spacing biac'ket "ra which cause them: t'o'be inclined "teward each other at equal angles; withthe tentieaL supported at reg'lilar intervals along 'thei otally mounted on the bottom portion otally mounted on a flat recessedpbr arms I1) These'armslj, of which there pair at each supporting location, are: no between vertical brackets "f8 and I9 ,'the

2e are, in turn suitablym'oiinteii on wa gen-j erallydes'ignatedaszi.

Each plate 13 at the left end of thel itiq ing mechanism, looking "at; Fig. 1, has my tallx connected thereto a'link 22 corresponding 11- 22 are pivotally mounted on inclined surfaces of a head block 24, which is slidably monnted on 5M 2 its mov men being ide y k 26- e ad la k 24 s med i te a with a threaded shaft 21; which passes through, d is u d by a. n l kn b 28. r te ably mounted in' the end bracket I 8, The knob 2g is thi eaded on the shaft 2] so that turnin of. the knob will cause the shaft to move horfi zontallv.

It will thus be seen that the positioning p at s 13 a e S po t d o n by e. links t5. extending below them and by the links ag at the left end oi the positioning mechanism. This structureis designed so that the links [5 are all ing plates 13, which correspond to the topside oft-he. narallelcgram, may be'var-iedby moving the head 24 horizontally in either direction to exert a force against the plates I3 through the links 22. This movement of the head 24 is accomplished by the turning of knob 28 which imparts horizontal movement to the threaded shaft 2'! which is rigid with the head 24.

With reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the strips I2 on whose upper edges the cable is placed,

are slidably mounted in openings formed between the mounting of the positioning plates I3 and their associated strips I2 so that the central planes 46 and 41 of the strips intersect at a line 48 which is the required axial center line of the cable being manufactured. Since all movement of the strips I2 takes place in planes which pass through the required axial center line, the 'position of the two strips may be simultaneously varied by means of the knob 28 to accommodate cables of varying diameters.

In the actual operation of the mechanism, the positioning plates and their strips are moved together to approximately their final position by turning the knob 28 in the appropriat direction, and the nuts 45 are then tightened to aid in holding the plates in this position. The cable core I I is next placed on the. upper edges of the strips I2 along the length of the mechanism so as to be supported thereon. The nuts 38 are then loosened and the individual strips I2 moved by turning the cams 36 until the center line of the cable is brought to the required axial line.

Vertical brackets I9 are used to position the plates and their strips so that the central planes of the strips are at equal angles to the vertical and intersect at the desired line. With reference to Figs. 1 and 5, the plates I3 are held in place against the edges of the brackets I9 by means of bars 40 which are bolted to the edge of the bracket in two places as shown. .The upper bolt M is positioned in an angular slot 42 of the plate I3 as it passes through the plate, which enables the plate to, be held firmly against the edge of the bracket I9 at the same time that it is moving angularly with respect to the bracket.

Although Fig. 1 shows two plates I-3 on each side, joined by a connector 43, the entire length of the plates could be made in one piece should this prove practical. In addition, in a simplified form of the invention, the cable could be mounted and supported directly on the upper edges of the plates I3. A tie rod 44 serves as a connection between successive brackets I9 to provide rigidity for the assembly.

The invention as herein presented provides a simple, inexpensive and compact means for supporting and positioning varying diameters of cable along a required axial line, with changes in position being made simultaneously by the turning of a single actuating knob. This mechanism is of particular advantage in positioning a cable when the cable sheath is being joined in induction soldering or similar equipment, as it enables a uniform predicted heat distribution to be maintained in this operation, and also maintains the registration of the overlapped corrugations.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the app1i- .4 cation of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is: v

1. In a positioning mechanism, two members for supporting on their top edges a cable undergoing manufacture, said members being inclined toward each other at fixed angles and having central planes converging at the top and intersecting substantially along a prescribed axial line for the cable, the top edges of said members being parallel to and equally spaced from said prescribed line, means for supporting the members for movement toward and away from said axial lin while maintaining their fixed angles of inclination, said means including a fixed arm for each member, a plurality of links pivotally connecting the arms to the members and means for simultaneously moving the members by equal increments.

2. In a positioning mechanism, two members for supporting on their top edges a cable undergoing manufacture, said members being inclined toward each other at fixed angles and having central planes converging at the top and intersecting substantially along a prescribed axial line for the cable, the top edges of said members being parallel to and equally spaced from said prescribed'line, means for supporting themembers for movement toward and away from said axial line while maintaining their fixed angles of inclination, said means including a fixed arm for each member, a plurality of links pivotally connecting the arms to the members, means for simultaneously moving the members by equal increments including ablock adjacent one end of the members, a linking arm pivotally mounted at said end of each member with both linking arms having their other ends pivotally mounted on the block, and means for movin the block in a direc-- tion parallel to said axial line.

3. In a positioning mechanism, two members each having a bearing strip for supporting on their top edges a cable undergoing manufacture, said members and strips being inclined toward each other at fixed angles, the strips having central planes converging at the top and intersecting substantially along a, prescribed axial line for the cable, the top edges of said strips being parallel to and equally spaced from said prescribed line,

means for supporting the members for movement toward and away from said axial line while maintaining their fixed angles of inclination, said means including a fixed arm for each member, a plurality of links pivotally connecting the arm to the members, means for simultaneously moving the members by equal increments and means for adjusting each bearing strip toward and away from said axial line independently of the movement of the members.

4. In a positioning mechanism, two members each having a bearing strip for supporting on their top edges a cable undergoing manufacture, said members and strips being inclined toward each other at fixed angles, the strips having central planes converging at the top and intersecting substantially along a prescribed axial line 5 for the cable, the top edges of said strips being parallel to and equally spaced from said pre-- scribed line,'means for supporting the members for movement toward and away from said axial line while maintaining their fixed angles of inclination, said means including a fixed arm for each, member, a plurality of links pivotally connecting the arms to the members, means for simultaneously moving the arms by equal increments including a block adjacent one end of the members, a linking arm pivotally mounted at said end of each member with both linking arms having their other ends pivotally mounted on the block, means for moving the block in a direction parallel to said axial line and camming means for individually adjusting each bearing strip toward and away from said axial line independently of the movement of the members.

5. In a positioning mechanism, a plurality of members disposed in laterally opposed pairs, each member having a bearing strip, for supporting on their top edges a cable undergoing manufacture, the opposed members and stripsF-being inclined toward each other at fixed angles, the strips having central planes converging at the top and intersecting substantially along a prescribed axial line for the cable, the top edges of the opposed strips being parallel to and equally spaced from said prescribed line, means for supporting the members for movement toward and away from said axial line while maintaining their fixed angles of inclination, said means including a fixed arm for each member, a plurality of links pivotally connecting the arms to each member, means for simultaneously moving all of the members by equal increments and means for individually adjusting each strip on its member to align the supporting edges.

LEONHARD ENZINGER.

HENRY N. PADOWICZ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,754,810 Wappler Apr. 15, 1930 2,174,754 Miller Oct. 3, 1939 2,322,368 Lacey June 22, 1943 

